


Find Your Brightness

by be_brave13



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (the reference, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, As I've mentioned, Cheesy, Cute, Happy Ending, I couldn't fit Zayn in, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm sorry!, It's bad, M/M, Niall is mentioned - Freeform, Sad Louis, Singer Harry, Swearing, Torn is sung!!!, With Harry, Writer Louis, a WMYB refrence, and ends up singing Beyoncé, captivating harry, editor Liam, goes to a karaoke bar, i think, it's cute, not the story), then sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 21:46:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5801419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/be_brave13/pseuds/be_brave13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis went through a bad break-up a couple months ago and he hasn't been doing very well since. Cue in a curly-haired boy and a round of drunken Beyoncé singing at a karaoke bar, and suddenly the broken author has a great idea for his novel that he's months behind on. With the help of Liam, a brief second meeting, and following his own advice, Louis might just find his own brightness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Find Your Brightness

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based on this prompt: what if (kinda like hsm but not really) the two of them have to do karaoke together when they’re at a bar and it’s cute as fuck and so basically when they’re drunk off their asses they sing like beyonce or some shit and it just goes from there like they randomly bump into each other at the store like “hey i sang beyonce while drunk off my ass with you hey man what’s up???”

It started with a lot of drinking. Louis arrived at the karaoke bar ready to get smashed beyond his wildest dreams, relive some of his high school moments singing onstage, and then expertly and drunkenly call a taxi to take him home. Basically, a normal three-months-after-breakup special with a side dish of I-haven’t-found- _ anyone _ -worthwhile-since. 

But he wasn’t expecting things to go so… Smashingly.

 

Louis was on his fifth drink. Or wait, was it sixth? He had no idea, and nor did he care. He was just waiting for his name to be called so he could sing! Ah, singing. He loved singing.

“Did you know that I really like to sing?” He turned to the innocent brunette girl sitting next to him and stage whispered. 

She gave him a short smile. “Well I’d hope so, as we’re at a karaoke bar.” She replied. 

“You’re nice.” Louis commented. “Do you sing?” 

She laughed. “Sometimes.” She was obviously way less drunk than Louis, but she had a sort of sparkling confidence that is only seen in tipsy people. 

“Sometimes?! Why, what a crime to come to a karaoke bar and only sing  _ some _ times! Miss, I believe we’re going to have to get you on that stage!” Louis dramatically flailed his arms about. 

“Sure, sure,” Her eyebrow cocked and she got a smirk. “But you first, honey.” 

“Louis Tomlinson! I have a Louis Tomlinson being called up to sing. And, since there is another person signed up to sing the same song, our manager has combined the two! Louis Tomlinson, you will be singing a duet with Harry Styles! Harry Styles please come forward.” 

Louis gasped loudly and looked at the brunette girl with wide eyes. “I’m Louis Tomlinson! I get to sing now! I wonder who Harry Styles is. I hope he’s good at singing. Goodbye, see ya later!” Louis literally skipped to the front of the bar and ran up the stairs leading to the backstage area. 

And, lo and behold, he saw the prettiest boy perhaps ever to be seen standing in front of him. He had curly chestnut hair and eyes green as grass, plump lips, and  _ he was tall _ . He wore the most ridiculous patterned shirt ever, unbuttoned about halfway down and showing off some tattoos, but Louis thought he was the cuddly type. He decided that he liked this pretty stranger, so Louis walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. “Hi. I’m Louis. You’re really pretty,” He told the boy forthright. 

“Thanks.” The boy smiled and looked down. 

“ **_BUT WHEN YOU SMILE AT THE GROUND IT AIN’T HARD TO TELL YOU DON’T KNOW-OW-OW! YOU DON’T KNOW YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL!”_ ** Louis sung at the top of his lungs before dissolving into giggles. 

“Did you just quote that really old song that all the teenage girls loved in like 2012?” The boy asked. 

With a serious facade, Louis replied, “Of course I did, Curly. I told you you were pretty and you smiled at the ground. There are only so many opportunities in life to sing WMYB.” 

The boy shook his head and a woman walked into the room. “Hello. I’m Karen, the manager of this bar. You are both singing  _ Single Ladies _ by Beyoncé. Lyrics will be up on the screen, have fun boys.” 

“Queen Bey?! Yes, this is my shit!” Louis spun around and whooped a couple times before looking back at the other boy in the room with him. 

“Waaaaaait, so  _ you’re  _ Harry Styles?”

The boy,  _ Harry _ , could only nod a yes while Karen pushed them onstage. 

Louis took out his mic and tapped it to test before saying into it, “Hi. We’re singing  _ Single Ladies  _ by Queen Bey! Give it up for me, the fab LOUIS and over there is my extrodin-HARRY friend! Sing along! Or don’t so you can hear our fabulous voices.” He turned to Harry and stage whispered, “Take turns or no, love?” 

“Turns, with last chorus together. I’ll take first verse and chorus.” 

Louis looked at him and sassily replied, “I get first two lines of first verse, at least. I want second verse and bridge. You’re on chorus duty, my friend.” Then he swung around and jutted out his hip while putting his hand on it. 

While he had talked to Harry, the into had been playing, so he waited ‘till it was time before belting out the lyrics. 

“Up in the club, we just broke up

I'm doing my own little thing,” He winked at Harry before putting his mic down and trying and rouse up the crowd. 

Then he heard this perfect, angelic voice continuing the lyrics to the first verse. It stopped him mid way onstage and he let out a whoop. 

“You decided to dip but now you wanna trip

Cause another brother noticed me

I'm up on him, he up on me

don't pay him any attention

Cause I cried my tears, for three good years

Ya can't be mad at me,” Harry sang, his confidence growing with every word flowing out of his mouth. 

“Well folks! Harry Styles can sing, and damn well!” Louis yelled into the mic during the music between the first verse and the chorus. 

“Cause if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it

If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it

Don't be mad once you see that he want it

If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it,” Harry continued to sing while Louis did a scarily accurate recreation of the dance shown in the music video.

During the “wuh oh uh”s, the both of them gathered in center stage and jumped around, semi-dancing with each other. Louis felt himself gaining a happy, gleeful smile.  

When they ended, Harry bowed to Louis. “Your turn.”

“Indeed, young Harold.” Louis turned around and waited for his verse to start. When he heard the music start to near it, he dramatically whipped around and rose his left hand while holding the mic in his right. He sung out to the crowd with as much attitude as possible, gesturing when appropriate.

“I got gloss on my lips, a man on my hips

Hold me tighter than my Dereon jeans

Acting up, drink in my cup

I could care less what you think

I need no permission, did I mention

Don't pay him any attention

Cause you had your turn

And now you gonna learn

What it really feels like to miss me,” He smirked at Harry, who just seemed to feed off the sheer energy, dramatization, and attitude that Louis was presenting forth. 

Harry stepped up his sass level and every so often pointed at a member of the audience during his solo while joining Louis in an almost perfectly coordinated dance replica. 

“Cause if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it

If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it

Don't be mad once you see that he want it

If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it,” Louis mouthed along. 

During the “wuh oh uh”s, Louis turned to Harry and told him, “Sing bridge with me!” Harry nodded, and the noise of the crowd seemed to fall away as they looked at each other while Harry let Louis have the first line of the bridge.

“Don't treat me to these things of the world,” Louis’ powerful voice rung out over the crowd, and he could see Harry give a slight shiver from how well he pulled it off. 

“I'm not that kind of girl,” Harry filled in, looking into Louis eyes. 

“Your love is what I prefer, what I deserve,” They sang together, Louis harmonizing with Harry and suddenly their “stage act” of being playful and flirty turned to a powerful and intense moment. They stared each other down as they sung their hearts out with expressive faces to the other, and even they knew nothing besides the other’s name and their talent for singing, there was chemistry flowing between the two. 

“Is a man that makes me then takes me

And delivers me to a destiny, to infinity and beyond

Pull me into your arms

Say I'm the one you want

If you don't, you'll be alone

And like a ghost I'll be gone,” And suddenly the moment was severed when the music changed and the background track played. 

“All the single ladies (All the single ladies)

All the single ladies (All the single ladies)

All the single ladies (All the single ladies)

All the single ladies,” However, this didn’t ruin the song for either boy, and they both danced their hearts out together in center stage, but dancing together this time. When the last line came, the both sang.  

“Now put your hands up,” and they linked hands and held them up to the sky, the track cutting out and the bar getting overwhelmingly loud with cheering. 

“We fucking slayed, Curly!” Louis shouted. 

“Fuck yeah we did!” Harry yelled back, his eyes shining. 

They took a bow before Karen came onstage to kick them off. “Off to the left, boys,” she reminded while pushing them off. 

In the small room on the other side of backstage, Louis high-fived Harry. “That was epic! I’m so glad you could sing well.” Louis felt a little more sober now, but still bordering on tipsy. He felt his adrenaline fade a little bit, but his smile stayed bright as ever. 

“Me too!” Harry was a mess, his curls all over the place from whipping his head back and forth throughout the performance. 

Then, Louis delved back into the crowd with Harry at his side, and they were treated as the champions of the night. 

 

Fast forward through a couple of blurry hours of free drinks before he hailed a taxi home (somehow) and getting (miraculously) into his bed before falling asleep. 

So, here he was squinting as the sunlight started to make its way through the curtains onto his face, trying to diminish the thumping he felt in his head. 

Louis stared at the ceiling in some semblance of longing, because,  _ fuck,  _ last night had been fun. The corners of his mouth twitched up and he made his way for the day to go on as a boring, heartbroken author who was slowly slipping into oblivion. 

 

A couple days later, as he was typing away on his laptop working on his newest adventure of writing, he found his mind drifting away from the task at hand and wandering to long, curly hair, green eyes, an incredible, low voice, and a saccharine smile that made his hands’ typing speed slow down until they lay lazily on his keyboard while Louis drifted back in time to a night when he hadn’t a care in the world besides the curly haired drunk beside him. 

“Harry Styles,” he mused, “I sung Beyoncé while drunk of my ass with Harry Styles a couple of nights ago.” And though he was saying it to nobody, Louis found himself wishing that it could be more than that, that Harry was more than a random stranger. Because looking back on it, he could sense the want that both of them had, some kind of passion in those green eyes had flared up, making him lose his breath. 

Louis opened a new document on his computer and began to write. He wrote about feeling alive after months of being empty, and how it was all at the hands of someone who did not know a single thing about him. 

 

“Well, Louis,” Liam, his editor, said to him, “where did this come from? I’m not saying I don’t like your idea, but this is the brightest one you’ve had since-” 

“Don’t say his name, Liam. And I know what you’re thinking, but no. There is nobody.” Louis cursed Liam for somehow becoming more than his editor, but rather his friend, as he scowled while looking out of the window. 

“Louis…” 

His gaze finally snapped back to Liam. “No. There is nothing.” 

Liam’s brown eyes pierced into his blue ones. “Then where did this idea come from? You’ve written here,  _ When all seemed lost and all hope was gone, there was a brightness. A flooding brightness that he shied away from in fear of it burning him. But instead it was a gentle, warm feeling that extended from the brightness and into his soul, curling up into his face and setting a smile upon his features- _ Louis. You can’t tell me this came from nowhere. I’ve known you long enough to know you write what you feel.” 

Louis grit his teeth and looked away again, because it was stupid to admit that someone who made him feel alive was also someone he only sung a singular song with while drunk in a karaoke bar. However, he also knew that Liam would be unrelenting. 

So, he tried to send out a harsh reply that would scare Liam away for awhile, but ended up just saying, “It’s nothing.” But this was said in the most broken voice he had heard himself use. “He doesn’t even know me, Liam.” In that moment, he realized his mistake, and brushed himself off. “So, anyway, do you approve or not? I have a deadline, you know, in about four months, and I need to get started if I ever want to finish this novel that I should have started months ago.”  

Liam stared at him with pitying eyes, but finally dropped his accusatory tone. “Go ahead, Louis.” And when Louis was about to shut the door, Liam said, “Go find it, find your brightness.” 

All Louis could do is walk away, the empty feeling he couldn’t seem to shake settling in his stomach. 

 

_ If you liked it than you should have put a ring on it _ . He typed in disgust, thinking about the past.  

_ Don’t be mad when you see that he want it.  _ Louis’ fingers flew across the keyboard, attempting to convey that he was falling in a downward spiral from here on out. Louis’ character had been through a tough time, and he was just finding his solace.  _ Find your brightness _ , Liam had told him. 

_ How am I supposed to find happiness if I don’t know where it is?  _ He typed, as memories floated about him like mist. 

_ Then you have to make some of your own _ , the more optimistic character told him. 

And fast as that, Louis was up, his computer abandoned as he flew out the door to his shoddy apartment and just purposefully walked to a destination he wasn’t sure existed. 

“There's nothing where he used to lie

The conversation has run dry

That's what's going on

Nothing's fine, I'm torn” Louis heard a voice singing on the edge of his consciousness and focused on it, let his footsteps lead to where the source of the voice was. Because in that moment, it was so raw, so feeling, that he empathized, and all this seemed greater than him when he opened his eyes and saw who else besides  _ Harry Styles _ singing his heart out on a stage that sometimes people rented out to sing on. 

He felt himself edge closer to the stage as Harry sung on, his eyes screwed shut while he gave the small audience gathered all he had. Louis joined in, because what was Harry singing without his voice to harmonize?   

“I'm all out of faith

This is how I feel

I'm cold and I am shamed

Lying naked on the floor” Harry’s eyes snapped open when he heard Louis joining in and harmonizing to his melody, and though his eyes considerably brightened, his focus did not waver from the song. 

“Illusion never changed

Into something real

I'm wide awake and I can see

The perfect sky is torn

You're a little late, I'm already torn.” When the chorus was over, Harry leaned down and pulled Louis up onstage with him, and somehow within that shared glance, they  _ knew _ that they sung Beyoncé together before. 

But this time they were sober and Harry whispered for Louis to take the next verse in his perfect voice, which Louis’ only reply was to start singing. 

“So I guess the fortune teller's right

Should have seen just what was there

And not some holy light” He felt his fingers shaking as he somehow showed this boy beside him his past, something more serious lying on the moment than just singing a song in the street with someone who was practically a stranger. But he didn’t wonder why Harry was here, singing his  song on this day. All he did was feel in the right now as he continued to sing. 

“It crawled beneath my veins

And now I don't care, I had no luck

I don't miss it all that much

There's just so many things

That I can touch, I'm torn,” And he felt so choked up that he wasn’t sure if he could go on until Harry joined in with him, singing like he knew exactly what Louis was thinking, like he had been through exactly what Louis had been through. 

“I'm all out of faith

This is how I feel

I'm cold and I am shamed

Lying naked on the floor” Their voices were so perfect together that Louis didn’t want to realize that this was probably a dream. 

“Illusion never changed

Into something real

I'm wide awake and I can see

The perfect sky is torn

You're a little late, I'm already torn, torn.” Louis looked at Harry and tried to tell him what he had been thinking these past few weeks, but then he realized that he has crawled up onstage with Harry in the middle of his performance,  _ in front of a crowd _ , and so he ran away, jarring the moment of green and blue meeting together in an endlessly long but impossibly short moment. 

In his haste, he didn’t hear the cry of “Louis!” from someone who he didn’t even think remembered his name.

 

Louis was only fueled more after his second, and more heartfelt, encounter with Harry. He was ashamed of his rash actions, but at the same time, singing with him had felt so exhilarating, so raw, and he didn’t know if the feeling would ever be recreated with someone who wasn’t Harry Styles. 

_ No _ , he thought,  _ without Harry I could never feel the same way.  _ He silently cursed the boy for doing something to mess with his head as he was tempted to spill all his emotion into the laptop that stood at his desk. And so he did. 

He decided that their names would be Tom and Marcel. He wrote and wrote and wrote and Marcel seemed to sprout curly hair, his voice began to slow, and his eyes turned a vibrant green in Louis’ mind while Tom mirrored himself and he didn’t care, he just wrote. 

_ Marcel, I have tried to make my own happiness, but it won’t work! Nothing I do seems to work, ever.  _ He lamented, changing Tom’s nickname to Tommo as he went along. 

_ No, that’s not how you should look at things Tommo. Happiness can’t be created if you don’t actually want to find it. And I get the feeling that you kind of don’t want to find it.  _

Marcel was spouting wisdom that Louis himself wanted to hear before he had gone to the karaoke bar. But there, he realized now, while buried deep in his writing, that he  _ had  _ found his brightness. 

_ Maybe it’s been there all along, right in front of you. Maybe you just have to open your eyes, Tommo.  _

 

“I think this is going to be a best-seller, Louis.” Liam peered at him from across the desk. “I’ve marked it up, so don’t think you don’t have your work cut out for you, but for a first manuscript, it was immensely great.” Liam’s tone turned serious. “So, are you ready to talk yet, Lou?” 

_ No.  _ He wanted Liam to stop asking him about it. “About what? Everything’s great.” He had always been great at acting, so he made his face into a quizzical, innocent mask. 

“Louis, you know what I mean.” Liam’s tone was insistent. 

He felt himself almost turning, almost letting something slip, but then Liam would hover again, and he didn’t want anyone to hover after last time. “It’s good.”  _ Traitorous voice, cracking on me.  _

“Tell me.” Liam was no longer insistent, and now his words were soft and almost pleading. 

“It’s all Harry  _ fucking _ Styles, it’s  _ all his fault _ !” Louis felt like a kid whining to their mother, but as he slammed his palm on Liam’s desk, he knew that he didn’t give a  _ singular shit _ because this boy he had seen twice was ruining his existence. 

“ _ Harry Styles? _ ” Liam’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. “How do you know him?”

Suddenly Louis looked at Liam and recognized that with this question, he had crossed into territory he did not want to be in. Somehow,  _ some _ how, Liam knew Harry. 

Shakily, he answered, “I could ask you the same thing.” Louis defeatedly lowered himself into one of the plushy chairs Liam and furnished his office with and tiredly stared Liam in the eye. 

“Harry’s best friends with my mate Niall, I…” Liam seemed to realize something, because he made an “Oh” sound. Louis didn’t know what to feel. 

“ _ That’s  _ what Niall meant. I’m not too good friends with Harry but Ni told me he was going through a rough time, like he had broken up with somebody, but Niall said they never dated.” Liam looked up. “It was you, wasn’t it?” He didn’t need an answer. “Louis, what happened?” 

Although dazed, Louis realized he should finally tell someone what had transpired the last two months of his life, and it all came spilling out of his mouth while he mentally praised and cursed Liam Payne for becoming more than just his editor. 

 

Louis stood outside a doorway, two options floating around his head. Either he could go in and face all he had been thinking for these past three months, or he could walk away. Both options had weight on them and Louis wasn’t sure which he was going to choose, his hand pulled halfway up into a knock. 

But then the door opened. And Louis was met with long brown curls and green eyes that made his breath fall away. 

“Louis?” His name was light on the other’s tongue. 

“Hello, Harry Styles.” He responded. “Let me in?” 

He entered the flat, not looking around much but noting its modern look, pictures strewn about the walls.

“Um, hi Louis. How did you know where I lived?” Harry was quizzical and Louis sent him a small smile. 

“It's a story, and I want to tell it to you. Can we sit down?” 

The dazed emerald eyes snapped to attention at that, quickly examining Louis’ features. 

“Sure.” The word was drawled with uncertain undertones, and Louis felt his chest tighten. He hoped Harry had felt the significance of their moments, but now he wasn't sure. 

_ But Liam was sure. Liam is never wrong, he does his research. I'm okay. But shit, what if- _

“Tea?” Harry asked. 

“What?” Louis jumped to look at him before clearing his throat. “Tea, I mean, sure. D’you have Yorkshire?” 

Harry smiled a little. “Yeah, I do. Have a kettle on now, actually.” 

After a few awkward minutes of brewing tea, Louis and Harry found themselves sitting on Harry’s couch in his living room. 

Louis put down his tea after taking a long sip, fully aware that it would most likely grow cold. 

“This story starts about nine months ago.” Louis started, Harry’s expectant gaze resting and focusing completely on him. “Before we met. I was in a relationship with this guy. His name was- his name- um, well, today let's call him Richard. Dick, if you please.” Louis knew incorporating humor into things was how he coped, but he had to remain somewhat serious. Facing the TV that Harry had, he went on, the green eyes not wavering. “So, Richard was what his name suggests. Rich, and a dick. I don't want to talk details. Let's just say, I'm an author, my writing from that time was very dark. Very, very dark. Even I cringe while rereading it now. When we went our separate ways, it was because of someone elsce's intervention. I was left, if you will,  _ cold and shamed, lying naked on the floor _ .” A wry smile drifted across his face. “And I mean  _ emotionally  _ naked. Rather, stripped. So, after that, I continued my downward spiral, but my editor who is also my friend hovered a lot. He helped pick me back up, but he also was overbearing. In fact, he still is. It was thanks to him that I got here. But I'll get to that later. 

"You found me on my once a week get-pissed-drunk-and-Louis'-pity-party-all-in-one. After getting pissed, I signed up for a random song, and we got paired." He now turned his head, blue eyes meeting green in earnest. "And Harry, I will tell you that night you made me feel alive. After months of feeling empty and dark and cold it was like someone had turned on the light and put on the heater. I started a new idea a couple days later, and proposed it to Liam. See, I had a two book contract with my publisher. I was supposed to start my second book about the time Richard and I split, but Liam, always too kind, let me off the hook way longer than he should have. I was writing depressing things that had no direction, no way to extend them into a good, long book. But that was all before that fateful night in which we sang Beyoncé. Sounds stupid, but that night helped me so much. I'm going to sound far too forward and cheesy as fuck, but that night changed me. My story idea was about being fixed. My main character is told to 'find his brightness.' And Harry," Louis' eyes turned downcast.  _ Say it Louis say it, don't deny yourself the possibility anymore,  _ "you are mine, my brightness. The second time we met, sorry about that, by the way, I felt as if I was spilling out my entire past to you. Another lyric for you,  _ these stories don't mean anything if you've got no one to tell them to _ . And it's true, because in that moment I felt a culmination of my past run through me, making me feel, making me freak the fuck out and so I ran." Louis laughed bitterly. "And running is what I do best of course. I run from Richard, run from Liam run from you. I'm fantastic at it. Should have done track in school I'm so good at running-"

Harry's hand was gently placed on Louis shoulder, jerking him out of his sarcastic rant, soft facial features a mixture of sadness and understanding. "Go on, Lou." 

He ran a hair through his hair before going on, "So, with that I finished the novel in a week and a half. Liam read it and when we met for him to give it back to me with corrections, he got me to crack. I told him your name. You see, his name is Liam Payne." 

Harry gasped. "Niall's mate?" 

Louis nodded. "The very one. So, I got your address off of him. It took me a month to decide I was actually going to come. Then I wasn't sure if you even remembered me, so that took a week to get rid of, and the past three days I've been out of my mind with nerves. But I had to come, and I couldn't wait so I came today. I hardly know you but you are warm and bright and we connect. So, therefore I lamely ask, do you want to get to know me more and take this somewhere?" 

_ Please be right Liam, please be right. I won't be able to stand this if Harry says no. I poured out my heart and he could break it, he could leave me with the pieces of a broken glass heart right now and I don't know if I can handle that.  _

"Yeah. Yeah, Louis, I'd like that a lot. I want to know you." Harry's eyes were full of hope, longing, caring. They were open and his voice was no louder than a whisper but he was confident in his words, an unspoken need for quiet passing between the two. "And," he continued, "I want you to know me too." 

"Good." Louis let out a shuddering breath in relief and sunk back into the couch. And suddenly, a scene flew through his mind. 

_ Tom marched up to Marcel, his eyes determined and walk purposeful.  _

_ "Marcel!" He yelled as he approached.  _

_ The other boy turned around, quizzical. "Tommo? What's up?"  _

_ "Marcel. Marcel I've been so stupid. My brightness was right in front of me and I was too stupid to realize it." _

_ "Oh!" Marcel at first had a wide smile, but then his eyes sunk to the ground and he fidgeted his toes nervously. "Well, tell me about it Tommo."  _

_ "Look at me. Marcel, look at me." Blue eyes met green and passion met sadness. "My brightness doesn't belong with anybody else, but  _ your  _ stupid ass."  _

_ Marcel widened his eyes, sadness dribbling into hope. "What?"  _

_ "And you knew it too. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"  _

_ "I was scared. You needed to do it on your own, I- Wait, Tom, is this real?"  _

_ Tom laughed. "Yeah. Yeah it is."  _

And Louis smiled. "This is real." He whispered again to Harry before reaching down and taking a sip of his lukewarm Yorkshire tea. 

_ Sometimes you have to let your brightness find you. But when it does, never let it go.  _

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of like this, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Have a lovely rest of your day!!


End file.
